Whether it's a conversation with a friend, a word that is penned, or a craft that is made, everything we do leaves a stitch in the fabric of time. Join us as we investigate the stitches of the past and present...

"To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven: ... a time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak" (Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7).

Saturday, August 10, 2013

Small Town Get Away

Small Town Get Away

favorite small towns, New Bern, NC population less than 30,000. If you are

looking for a small town full of charm and history, New Bern is the

perfect place. It is also heavily featured in my debut novel A Time to

Say Goodbye.

We have visited New Bern many times over the years to enjoy lazy

Saturday afternoons or check out one of their many annual festivals.

When I was in the formative stages of the novel I could not help but

think that its beauty and historical significance made it the the

perfect setting for May Lynn’s childhood home.

Because the Union Army only skimmed over New Bern while tearing

through the South it still contains many historic houses. Antebellum

middle class homes line the streets of the historic district and many

plantations houses just like Meadow, my main character’s childhood home,

still stand just outside of the city. Today the wealthy still flock

to New Bern as many mansions, including the 35000 square foot home of

novelist Nicholas Sparks, line the Trent River.

We stood at the port that May Lynn and Michael embarked from. New Bern

was the original colonial capital of NC and was a major port town and

shipping center with access to major rivers (the highways of their

day) and train tracks.

The Captain's Stay, the cozy bed and breakfast where we stayed, is

located at the heart of New Bern's historic district and still had

its two hundred year old stove. The former private home could have

easily been one May Lynn would have visited as a young belle.

If you would like to win an ebook copy of A Time to Say Goodbye, drop

a short comment about your favorite small town to visit. I'll draw the winner on Monday and post the winner's name on my facebook. That winner will then need to email me via facebook their email address, so I can send the book to them.

13 comments:

How wonderful to know more about the setting of A Time to Say Goodbye! Thank you for sharing.

A great little place we like to vist is the village of Salado, TX. Located between Waco and Austin, it was an original stop for the stage lines. The Stagecoach Inn, which includes a restaurant, was orginally built in 1860. It was restored in the 1940s. Surrounding the property are huge pecan and oak trees and the main street is lined with shops and antique stores. You never know what treasure you'll find in Salado!

I grew up in the busy capitol of Michigan and so for me going up to the thumb area in Michigan was always special. I dreamed of living there, as my grandparents and many cousins did. The small town of Deckverville is like no other to me. There was a noon-time whistle, probably to let the farmers know when the meal was on, they had parades on main street and wonderful dinners put on by the local Lion's Club, which my grandfather was a member. And I recall going to the little store on the corner where we'd buy candy for just a few coins, and grandma bought me a pair of patten leather shoes to wear to my first Mother and Daughter Banquet at the white church on the corner. I was four. Sunsets were beautiful, and although they lived on the main street in town, we could view the country that went on forever behind them, and the beauty each evening. I could go on and on....but this is my favorite place. And since I no longer live in MI, I can only travel through my memeory to it, and I do that time and again.

Enjoyed your post. My late husband and I enjoyed visiting New Bern frequently. We both love(d) history and always found the neatest antiques and enjoyed learning about the rich history of our great state. I don't "do" ebooks, but I just thought I'd post. I'll have to look up some of your books. Glad to know the history behind this book. I'll have to check it out. Thanks!susanlulu@yahoo.com

Congratulations on your debut, Josette. I remember seeing some chapters of your book in the ACFW's critique group. It sounded great. 30,000 is a big town, though. I grew up in a town of 800. It had one redlight and two streets, but packed in there were a couple of antebellum houses, two churches, an 1840s courthouse, a statue of Jefferson Davis because he camped there running from the union soldiers, school, library, a grocery store, drug store, doctor's office, barber shop, and a wonderful dime store. I lived in the country, so the Saturday trip to town was a treat.

Hi Josette. Congratulations on your debut novel. My favorite small town to visit is Schroon Lake, NY, in the heart of the Adirondack North Country. It is the town where my sister lives, so I get to visit her every year or so. I'm not sure the population, but I know it is small. However, being a tourist town, there is always something going on there and the scenery is amazing.

Speaking of small towns, though, I live in one here in Colorado. Las Animmas has a population of around 3,000 and is rich in history. Ten miles away is historic Bent's Old Fort, which served as a trading post for the Indians back in the 1840's. Boggsville is down the street from where I live, another historic former community founded by Thomas Boggs, one of the many men who played a major part in the settling of this portion of Colorado.

Then, of particular interest to me, avid Gunsmoke fan that I am, is the fact that Ken Curtis, who played the legendary Gunsmoke character Festus Haggen, grew up here in Las Animas. His dad, Dan Gates (Ken's real name was Curtis Gates) served the sheriff of Bent County for several years. The 1912 jail where Ken's mom prepared meals for the prisoners and Ken delivered them, still stands.

Jodie, looks like a wonderful place to get away to. Congratulations on your anniversary and your book. Your cover looks great. I would love to go visit New Bern. It looks so calm. I love small towns. Well some of them. We traveled to some in Colorado that had fewer people and were rich with history. Some were pert near ghost towns.

Prize Rules

Winners will be announced in the day's comments or in the Weekly Wind-up post at the beginning of each week. All winners have one week to claim their prize by contacting us. Sorry, we only ship within the USA. Offer void where prohibited. Odds of winning vary due to the number of entrants.